Classic car club seeks new members
His most unique and rare car is a 1929 Austin 16/6
In the last year, the South Coast Sports and Specials club has sadly lost its popularity.
This is according to Brett Bellenger from Uvongo, who has a passion for buying, collecting and fixing old classics.
Bellenger says it may be due to lack of publicity as well as the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
“I was organising events every month catering for 20 people at least and only three would show up – my parents Clive and Merridy and myself. It got to the point where it almost wasn’t feasible for me to run anymore,” he said.
“It has been a struggle to keep it going, however I am prepared to give it another bash.”
The club has no membership fees or vehicle requirements, modern or contemporary, if your car is special it can attend hence the name of the club, South Coast Sports and Specials.
Bill and Judi Davis started an informal group about 15 years ago, calling on South Coast car enthusiasts to gather for a monthly breakfast run.
The role was eventually taken over by Bellenger who started working on old classic cars alongside his father who over 18 years ago decided to start a project on an old Austin Healey Sprite.
It seems the hobby the family had started never seemed to stop.
In the beginning, he worked on classic bikes to sell and turn a profit and then moved onto the first vehicle he ever bought and fixed up which was an old Morris Garages.
Bellenger has recently built a garage on his property with museum-like features to accommodate his impressive collection but also uses it as a workshop.
He said, “We do everything here from spray painting, mechanical work, panel beating, to rust repair and more.”
Currently he is working on a Series 2 Land Rover. When asked what his favourite car in his collection is, he said “he doesn’t have a favourite but if he had to choose it would be the Mini Cooper”.
He worked on it for two years from scratch and has tuned the original motor to give it more power, and it gives a sense of rally readiness in appearance.
According to Bellenger, his most unique and rare car is a 1929 Austin 16/6 which is aptly named for its straight six cylinder, 16 horse power engine.
It has done a total of 12 Cairo to Cape Classic Rallies, each taking three to four months to complete.
He even keeps in storage all its paperwork, details in changes of ownership (two previous owners) rally medals and route maps. Surprisingly, it still runs today, having no serious work done on it.
All-in-all, between Brett and his parents they own a total of 20 classic cars.
Incredibly, all of them run perfectly except two or three which are still ongoing projects. His secret is that you have to constantly drive them. “If you don’t use them, they break,” he says.
Anyone who would like to join can contact Bellenger on 083 4523304.
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